My favorite Disney movie in their renaissance era was Beauty and the Beast. It’s because I’m too pragmatic for love at first sight and an effortless happy ever after. I’m grateful that Belle and the Beast grew to love each other through their story.
I’m delighted that the musical version of this story exceeded my expectations and proud of the production that Lovegood showcased. The songs have been on loop in my household throughout the three-week run and we’ve quoted our favorite lines repeatedly.
Jenni and Violet joined the largest ensemble cast for a Lovegood production. There were over 60 cast members to tell this tale as old as time. It was Violet’s first time on stage instead of being on crew, and we’re grateful she made new theater friends in the process. This was Jenni’s third production with Lovegood, and she also was the understudy for Monsieur D’Arque.
A Tale As Old As Time
Understudy Performance
With this large of a production, they had understudies for most of the major roles. In addition to being an ensemble, Jenni was the understudy for Monsieur D’Arque while the primary actor was the understudy for Gaston.
Be Our Guests
We’re so grateful to have our family and friends come to the show. Their support meant a lot and we were thrilled to share the amazing production with them.
Behind the Scenes
After editing Lovegood’s Tuck Everlasting performance video, I realized that most of the final footage was from the B camera, which was my older camera. My latest camera is a full-frame, which allows it to record cleaner video in low-light situations (i.e. theater).
Normally, I would have Kadie with me to assist on tech rehearsal night where I’m recording video. But she was busy with homework, so I managed to control both cameras on my own by putting them side by side. The older camera has a 30-minute record limit, but with it nearby, I could reset it during scene changes or somewhere near the 30-minute limit.
I also dialed in my settings with a higher aperture so that I could get sharper video but the biggest improvement was recording in 4K resolution. I had done it before, but used it to crop in. The video was so much sharper and detailed when I used it uncropped. It was such a significant visual improvement that I ordered a second camera that could record the understudy performance in 4K.
However, I chose to use my full-frame camera for photos, so the performance videos were still a mix of 4K and 1080p. Afterwards, I discovered the new camera had a dead pixel, so I returned it and regrouped on whether to invest in another full-frame camera body.
